Music is an important part of the software of minds that needs to be revised in order to update our hardware towards more sustainable systems.

1. Presentation for the Deep in the Woods festival, Belgium 2013
How to shift the
music industry
towards a more
sustainable
track?

2. Hi, my name is Leen Gorissen.
I’m a transition researcher @ VITO and
an engaged music lover!

3. BUT I am getting increasingly more worried about this:
Yes, I am
aware that
this is
probably not
very rock’n
roll…
READING FESTIVAL @ David White
Already 172 tonnes of garbage collected
at the Ghent festival
One out of 4 festival attendants leaves their tent

4. This is part of CULTURE. And culture is very difficult to
change. But should we just ignore or accept this?
We need a
new
definition of
‘cool’.

5. Because this MATTERS and in more than
one regard!

6. DIDYOU KNOW THAT
Every 5 minutes 2 million plastic bottles are
thrown away in the US…
©ChrisJordan

7. …and plastic that isn’t recycled ends up in our
oceans creating huge underwater islands of
plastic soup like in the Pacific...

8. …ENDANGERING and KILLING all marine life…
.
©ChrisJordan
Photo courtesy of Ron Prendergast

9. …but also ends up on your plate…
.

10. …and eventually into your favorite destinations…

11. Is this how you would want to spend your holiday?
…and eventually into your favorite destinations…

12. DID YOU KNOW THAT
We are consuming more resources than the planet
can generate in 1 year: World Overshoot Day
That is stealing from the future!

13. And trouble will begin before we run out…

14. There’s more
Let’s look at some numbers…

15. Polar bears: fewer than 25.000
(Polar bear international)
Western Pacific grey whales: fewer than 130 (IUCN)
Sumatran tigers: fewer than 400(WWF)
Humans (25/08/2013):
7.174.486.209 and growing
Estimated number of

16. Polar bears: fewer than 25.000
(Polar bear international)
Western Pacific grey whales: fewer than 130 (IUCN)
Sumatran tigers: fewer than 400(WWF)
humans (25/08/2013):
7.174.486.209 and growing
Estimated number of
OMG

17. Extinct
» Korhoen (Tetrao tetrix)
» Kemphaan (Philomachus pugnax)
» ZwarteStern (Chlidonias niger)
» Duinpieper (Anthus campestris)
» Hop (Upupa epops)
» Ortolaan (Emberiza hortulana)
Threatened with extinction
» Roerdomp (Botaurus stellaris)
» Woudaap (Ixobrychus minutus)
» Grauwe Kiekendief (Circus pygargus)
» Kwartelkoning (Crex crex)
» Strandplevier (Charadrius alexandrinus)
» Watersnip (Gallinago gallinago)
» Dwergstern (Sterna albifrons)
» Grote Stern (Sterna scandvicensis)
» Draaihals (Jynx torquilla)
» Kuifleeuwerik (Galerida cristata)
» Paapje (Saxicola rubetra)
» Tapuit (Oenanthe oenanthe)
» Snor (Locustella luscinioides)
» Grote Karekiet (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)
» Grauwe Klauwier (Lanius collurio)
» Klapekster (Lanius excubitor)
Seriously threatened
• Zomertaling (Anas querquedula)
• Porseleinhoen (Porzana porzana)
• Zomertortel (Streptopelia turtur)
• Kramsvogel (Turdus pilaris)
• Graspieper (Anthus pratensis)
• Boompieper (Anthus trivialis)
• Rietzanger (Acrocephahus schoenobaenus)
• Wielewaal (Oriolus oriolus)
• Goudvink (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
• Geelgors (Emberiza citrinella)
• Grauwe Gors (Miliaria calandra)
• Rietgors (Emberiza schoeniclus)
Vulnerable
• Patrijs (Perdix perdix)
• Kluut (Recurvirostra avocetta)
• Tureluur (Tringa totanus)
• Kleine Mantelmeeuw (Larus fuscus)
• Visdief (Sterna hirundo)
• Nachtzwaluw (Caprimulgus europaeus)
• Veldleeuwerik (Alauda arvensis)
• Boomleeuwerik (Lullula arborea)
• Huiszwaluw (Delichon urbica)
• Gekraagde Roodstaart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
• Nachtegaal (Luscinia megarhynchos) (3c)
• Matkop (Parus montanus)
Birds in Belgium

18. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem

19. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem
All those diverse
species together form
a living system.
Our web of life.

20. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem
All those diverse
species together form
a living system.
Our web of life.
Imagine that one
of our designed
systems loses
components
uncontrollably

21. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem
All those diverse
species together form
a living system.
Our web of life.
Imagine that one
of our designed
systems loses
components
uncontrolably
What if all the
screws in your car
disappear while
you are driving.

22. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem
All those diverse
species together form
a living system.
Our web of life.
Imagine that one
of our designed
systems loses
components
uncontrolably
What if all the
screws in your car
disappear while
you are driving.
What is the chance of
arriving safely?

23. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
e.g. Barnowski et al
Nature 2011
© Tiantian Zhang
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
is a serious problem
All those diverse
species together form
a living system.
Our web of life.
Loss of biodiversity
threatens our LIFE
SUPPORT SYSTEM!
Imagine that one
of our designed
systems loses
components
uncontrolably.
What if all the
screws in your car
disappear while
you are driving.
What is the chance of
arriving safely?

24. And there’s more…

26. And doing this will not
make it go away

27. And doing this will not
make it go away
This doesn’t seem very
‘sapiens’ to me

28. How
come
that we
have
become
so good
at this?
And doing this will not
make it go away

29. So, what now?
‘The future is NOT some place we are
going to but one we are creating.
The paths are not to be found but made
and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the
destination’
John Schaar - Futurist
This is something we
tend to forget in our
ratrace world…

30. Transformational times ask
for transformational change!

31. So, let’s get our heads out of the sand
and start thinking about

32. …what kind of transition we want?

33. Our consumption levels, pollution levels and loss of natural
habitats are DECREASING our resilience
While
this is
where I
would
want to
go
…and where we are heading?
This is
the
track we
are on

34. Why not create the future we want?
…and start thinking of how we can influence the transition

35. 1. Stop, pauze and rethink
‘The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using
the same thinking that created the situation’
Albert Einstein

36. 1. Stop, pauze and rethink
‘The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using
the same thinking that created the situation’
Albert Einstein
Yet we keep throwing ‘old’ solutions to ‘new’ problems…
and
keep reinforcing leadership of the old style in positions that
need new leaders

37. 2. Then revise and reorient
What future do we want?
What is needed to develop sustainably?
What is appropriate?
What needs to change to realise the future we want?
How can we organize the transition?
A
S
K

38. 3. Then start acting
Don’t wait for others to take
action. They are waiting for you!

39. From the old way of thinking to a new way of thinking?
exploitation cooperation
extract value add value
take – make – dispose closed lean cycles
overconsumption sufficiency
From old, unsuitable structures to new structures?
vertical horizontal
hierarchical networks
top-down bottom-up
central decentral
pillars communities
So how can we shift

40. From old steering strategies to new navigation
approaches?
mono-actor networks
control and demand adaptation and anticipation
certainty uncertainty
simplicity complexity

41. Let’s get back to the story

42. How can the music industry evolve
towards a more sustainable track?
From a transition framework we know
that incremental change is not going to
be enough.
What we need is a RADICAL shift in
culture, structure and practice

43. How can the music industry evolve
towards a more sustainable track?
From a transition framework we know
that incremental change is not going to
be enough.
What we need is a RADICAL shift in
culture, structure and practice
That means: ‘doing
things better’
Which means:
‘doing better
things’

44. So how can the music industry evolve
towards a more sustainable track?
So, who has the MOST impact?

45. So how can the music industry evolve
towards a more sustainable track?
So, who has the MOST impact?
And who
has the
most
impact on
them?

46. Let’s
Design a process of change

47. 1. Show leadership and envision how
a sustainable music sector can look
like!
» That requires some serious out-of-the-box thinking
» For that we will need to bring together a group of
frontrunners, pioneers and visionary thinkers that
co-create a new vision

48. 2. Identify transition pathways of
how to realize the vision
» That requires people with guts and impact!
» Identify points of intervention to transform the
current business mentality, business models and
organisational culture

49. 3. Start up transition experiments
» ‘Learning by doing’ and ‘doing by learning’
» That allow us to learn about barrieres and
enablers, about context and scale…
» Then re-adjust, reorient, scale up…

50. Essential to this is
A GOOD REFORM AGENDA
supported by committed people
and serious cooperation

51. Why is this so important?
“The global crisis of unsustainability is not only a crisis of the
hardware of civilization, it is also a crisis of the software of
minds. The search for a more sustainable development has, so
far, been focusing too much on hardware updates, such as new
technologies, economic incentives, policies and regulations,
and too little on software revisions, that is the cultural
transformations affecting our ways of knowing, learning,
valuing and acting together. The cultural software is,
nevertheless, at least as much part of the fundamental
infrastructure of a society as its material hardware.”
Sacha Kagan, 2012

52. Music is an essential part of
the software of minds

53. So let’s start by transitioning the music
sector towards a more sustainable track.
Let’s build the future we want!
Pic courtesy http://www.chaoswallpapers.com/green_apple_is_live_music_energy_great_dj_background-wallpapers.html

54. What can you do as an engaged music lover?
1. Think about the music system and its
impact on the planet. How does it deal with
scarce resources and energy? How does it
impact waste and pollution?
2. Reflect upon ways of how we can shift the
industry from extracting value to adding
value.
3. Talk to your friends about this.
4. Start asking these questions to the people
that have impact: artists, organisers,… Use
new media such as twitter to fuel a societal
debate.
5. Become the change you want to see.

55. The thinking presented in this presentation is ‘work in progress’ and
based on my experience working as a transition researcher at VITO,
Belgium
It arose in my free time and in my own name
Let’s cooperate to change the system:
twitter: L_gori or leen.gorissen@vito.be